Premium
Development of Children's perceptions of internal locus of control: A cross‐sectional and longitudinal analysis
Author(s) -
Sherman Lawrence W.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1984.tb00356.x
Subject(s) - locus of control , psychology , cross sectional study , developmental psychology , perception , longitudinal study , cognition , perspective (graphical) , demography , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry , pathology , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science
Elementary school children between the ages of eight and thirteen were administered the Children's Nowicki/Strickland Locus of Control Scale annually for three years. As predicted, children's mean locus of control scores were found to be significantly different from one age group to the next (cross‐sectional analysis) as well as from one year to the next (longitudinal analysis). Older children had significantly more internal scores than did younger children, and the same 97 children demonstrated significant increases in internal perceptions over each succeeding year. No significant sex differences were observed in this generally linear developmental trend. The study supports the hypothesis that increases in internal perceptions are associated with growing older. The data are explained using a confluent theoretical perspective drawing upon cognitive as well as behavioral theory.